We recently spend a lovely morning with The Glass Recycling Company (TGRC) at The Tool Share Studio in Ferndale learning more about glass recycling and making our own glass recycling boxes.

Did you know that South Africa’s national glass recycling rate have increased to 40.6%? According to TGRC CEO, Shabeer Jhetam, over one billion bottles were recycled in the past year, and as a result approximately 222 000 tons of carbon emissions were reduced by recycling glass.

As glass is made from natural substances, it’s endlessly recyclable, making it a truly environmentally sustainable packaging. As the recycling rate has now reached 40.6%, this means that almost every new glass bottle and jar made in our country contains 40% recycled glass.

Let’s make this number even higher by teaching our little ones and our families about glass recycling.

These tips from TGRC can be helpful to get started:
• Whenever you buy a packaged product, think about how you can reuse or recycle the packaging. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled again and again without losing its purity or strength.
• Plan your trips to glass banks to fit into your daily schedule. Take the kids with you and show them how and where to put their bottles.
• Explain to you children what it recyclable and what’s not. Glass containers, such as those used for food and beverages can be recycled.
• Other types of glass, like window glass, ovenware, pyrex, crystal and light bulbs are manufactured through a different process and cannot be recycled through South Africa’s manufacturers.
• Reuse old containers – they’re great for storing paint, crayons, buttons and arts and crafts tools.
• In South Africa, it’s not necessary to wash glass before placing it into “Glass Banks”, or to place different coloured glass into separate banks.
• Get your child’s school to register for The Glass Recycling Company school competition. There are fantastic prizes up for grabs plus a conveniently placed glass bank at the school. Visit http://www.tgrc.co.za for more details.